


Third Time's the Charm

by canvasghost



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet, Byleth wants to save everyone, F/F, F/M, Non-canon-compliant, One-Sided-Love, Pre-Time-Skip, Sothis wants to save Byleth, Talking about timey wimey stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:08:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27772021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canvasghost/pseuds/canvasghost
Summary: When Byleth returns from the Void in the Sealed Forest, she is not alone. The Goddess' return had never factored in to even Claude's wildest of plans. It seems, however, that she has plans for him.A bittersweet character study of sorts, in which a Sothis who has experienced many timelines wishes to talk to Claude about a certain stoic protagonist.
Relationships: Claude von Riegan & Sothis, My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan, My Unit | Byleth/Sothis
Comments: 2
Kudos: 86





	Third Time's the Charm

**Author's Note:**

> *peaks around a corner* Hipleasedon'tkillme
> 
> I know I never finished 'Beloved' and I feel all kinds of awful about it. However, I recently completed another playthrough of FE3H after ages of not touching my Switch, and oh boy, are the creative juices flowing.
> 
> I don't know where this came from, and it's definitely not canon-compliant though I do try to make it as "canon-like" as possible in terms of multiple timelines. I would like to turn this into a series and flesh things out a bit more, but as I haven't even finished my last FE fic, I don't want to set up anyone for disappointment (though hey, you never know, I may actually finish it now).
> 
>  **MAJOR SPOILERS IN PARAGRAPH BELOW!** Though this fic is probably in itself a spoiler so please do be careful if you're wary of that sort of thing.
> 
> For the purposes of this fic, Byleth and Rhea found a way to ressurect Sothis after the events of Silver Snow. If I were to create a series, I'd love it to be some kind of 'fix-it' in which Rhea atones by helping the protagonist and co. in using the bones of the heroes relics and the blood of their crest wielders to revive their fallen brethren. After which, Sothis and her children can pass peacefully into the realm they belong while the whole Crest-lineage thing is abolished in Fodlan. In this manner of thinking, Sothis would also try to undo the harm caused to Edelgard and Lysithea now that she's got a body/full powers again. The church would need major reform and I'd love to see the 2nd phase of the storyline be centred instead on the 3 Houses uniting to fight TWSITD and reforming the church/owning up to history instead of having the Imperial War. 
> 
> I also envision Sothis as older during this story, and would love to play with why she's so young in Byleth's mind/why Flayn is so young compared to Seteth and Rhea. I have a neat story in mind for the age thing in particular and hopefully I do eventually end up writing it out.
> 
> However! I'm not sure if I'll ever get around to fleshing that all out, but if anyone else wants to give it a go, I would LOVE to see your take on it! This fic is born out of that setting and I hope it's not too bizarre.

### 

With a sudden crack, Solon's cackling face freezes, twists, illuminates. While the forest had been dim before, even in daylight, the sky and trees darken further in compassion to the light splitting across the horizon. The light is a hot, glowing red. It is similar to the Sword of the Creator and yet it is not. It is ten times more vibrant--it is almost overwhelming to the senses as the heat and light crescendo. 

As the world comes back into focus, the first thing the Claude sees is Byleth. His precious, beloved Teach. But the face of his professor is not one he's ever seen before. Her eyes are wide in shock, her mouth slightly agape. Never has Claude seen such emotion on her face before, such... wonder.

When the Deer reminisce on this moment later, in incredulous tones of varying volume once safe again at Garreg Mach, Claude realizes something.

He was the only one to see Teach first; the only one to see her face open and unguarded for a brief moment before her mask slipped back on.

Everyone else had been too busy staring at the green-haired woman whose palms sparked flames, staring down at Solon with thunderous rage.

Of course, Claude had seen her as well. She was too threatening _not_ to notice.

However, as Claude watches his fellow housemates speculate and sputter, he decides that no one needs to know that even next to a Goddess, his eyes gravitated to Byleth first. 

***

Sothis' return had never factored in to even Claude's wildest of schemes. 

As word of her return spread like wildfire throughout the monastery, and likely soon throughout all of Fódlan, Claude could not help but be suspicious of the Progenitor God. He had never believed in her to begin with, and despite her now evident appearance and power, Claude was still not convinced.

She made him uncomfortable. He thinks of her initial conversation with the Deer, after Solon's fall.

_"You mean to say you had a GODDESS in your head this entire time?!" Hilda screeches._

_"I'm sorry," Byleth's expressions are muted as always, but Claude can see shame in the tilt of her head. "I did not mean to deceive anyone."_

_"Did Jeralt know?" Leonie demands, and Byleth's shoulders tense. Her head tilts down farther, her eyes downcast and distant._

_"No," she murmurs, and there is regret in her voice._

_"Do you think even the Blade Breaker would have believed her?" Sothis' voice is quick and piercing as she stares down Leonie._

_A muscle in Byleth's jaw twitches, and Claude thinks of the diary she generously shared with him. Jeralt would have believed her. Claude frowns, weighing his words, when Sothis' stare switches to him._

_"And even if he did," she continues before her can speak, "what would he have done with the information? What_ could _he have done? They both would've been committed to an asylum, at best. I did not awaken until your presence at Remire, regardless. What good would it have been to tell Jeralt after already having returned to Rhea? Rhea's search would have been unrelenting and unending had they escaped again."_

_Claude blanches, looking around the group. Sothis is revealing too much. The others did not know of Jeralt's diary, and he feels... almost betrayed, for Teach, with the Goddess' blasé attitude regarding Byleth's connection to Rhea._

_"What does Rhea have to do with this?" Ignatz asks. Before Claude can respond, Hilda speaks up._

_"Do you not have eyes?" Hilda scoffs. "Rhea's been all over the Professor since her arrival. It's kinda creepy, to be honest."_

_"I noticed her... affection, as well," Marianne adds quietly._

_"I think it is safe to say most of us took note of the Archbishop's behaviour," Lorenz interjects smoothly. "It is most unusual for a mercenary to suddenly earn the position of Professor, especially at Garreg Mach."_

_Claude feels the tension in his own shoulders release, and Sothis shoots him a small smirk._

_Had she known what he was thinking?_

_"I'm sorry," Leonie says, interrupting Claude's uncomfortable thoughts. He watches her place a hand on Byleth's shoulder. "For... not thinking before I spoke. For bringing him up."_

_Byleth's eyes raise from the forest floor, and she shoots Leonie a small smile._

_"Oh, she forgives you," Sothis tuts. "You should've seen her in the Void. So desperate to return to her little ones."_

_Byleth's cheeks turn the faintest shade of pink, and Sothis chuckles._

_"If I may be so bold..." Flayn begins, and Claude starts. He'd almost forgotten about her--she'd been silent ever since Sothis' arrival. "How did you come to separate yourself from our professor? And where..." she falters for a moment, her own cheeks turning pink, "what happened to the Sword of the Creator?"_

_The Sword of the Creator. Claude's gaze pivots to Byleth's hip. Flayn is right--it's gone. How did Claude not notice it was gone?_

_Or more importantly, judging by the looks of his fellow Deer, why was Flayn the first one to notice it was missing?_

_Sothis smiles fondly at Flayn and the colour on the young girl's cheeks darken._

_"The Sword is no more. That is all I can say for now," Sothis says. "But fear not, gentle one. It is not as you think, even though I am who you think."_

_Flayn squeaks and Sothis chuckles again._

_"I got a question as well," Raphael pipes up._

_"You may speak," Sothis says, and Claude feels a mild throb of irritation at her haughty tone._

_"If two people were living in one body..." Raphael's looks back and forth between Sothis and Byleth, "how did you not eat twice as much food?"_

_The group laughs at Raphael's genuine concern and the air is lighter now, the previous moment forgotten. However, even though everyone else is willing to let go of Sothis' cryptic words, Claude is not. He stores away her comment to Flayn in his memory, flicking one last calculating look between the two green-haired girls._

Claude comes back from his thoughts with a frown on his face. No, he did not trust the Progenitor God and, to be frank, he didn't really like her either. Still, he finds himself waiting in the empty Audience Chamber as per her request. He's not sure how to feel about a summon from Sothis, but he's not stupid enough to refute it. 

"Have you returned to the land of the living?" Sothis' voice calls out, and Claude starts. 

He swivels his head toward the sound of her voice and sees her leaning against a marble pillar. Her smile is smug and he feels that familiar throb of irritation once again, but quickly squashes it down.

"Your Holiness," he says as he turns to fully face her before sweeping into a bow, "my apologies, I had not noticed your arrival."

"Yes," Sothis says, crossing her arms while continuing to lean. "You seemed lost in thought and I did not wish to interrupt."

Claude feels the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He was near-certain she had not been there a moment ago and that he had been alone with his thoughts. Years of assassination attempts and stealth training had taught him to be more alert to sudden presences. She wasn't human, of that he was certain, but he wasn't convinced....

"I'm not a Goddess," Sothis says, and Claude feels his eyebrows raise to his hairline.

A moment of silence passes between the two. For once in his life, Claude von Riegan does not know what to say.

"Oh, don't give me that look," Sothis grumbles, finally stepping away from the pillar. "You and I both know you've never thought of me as a goddess. I am not offended nor do I find such thoughts sacrilegious. I was not the one to call myself a goddess and I'm well-aware you know what it means to inherit a title you did not ask for."

Claude lets out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

_Huh... wow._

"So, miss... not-a-goddess," he starts, struggling to recover his silver-tongue. "While I'm _very_ curious to know how you know both my mind and my history, I have another question I'd like answered first."

Sothis gives him a curt nod, arms still crossed.

"What happened to Rhea?"

Sothis' eyes soften at his question.

"Rhea has much to atone for," Sothis sighs, "She is safe and I do not intend to harm her, nor to let harm befall her. But she must assist in fixing what she has broken, and for that, she is needed elsewhere."

"....elsewhere," Claude echoes, arching an eyebrow.

"That is all the information I can give you," Sothis states, her face carefully guarded. "For now."

Claude puts his hands behind his head, thinking. Sothis does not offer any more information, but Claude can't help but wonder if he can squeeze a little more out of her.

"This elsewhere..." he speaks slowly, "Is it also where Edelgard and Lysithea ended up?"

Sothis smirks at that.

"I will admit that you are clever despite being incorrect," she says, and he's not sure whether or not to take it as a compliment. "Their disappearances are related, but no, they are not together as of right now. As with Rhea, they are safe, and they are under my protection."

"You said they're not together as of right now," Claude replies casually, hoping to push his luck just a bit further. "Does that mean you intend to have them together at some point in the future?"

Sothis laughs at this, eyes closing in mirth as her peals echo around the chamber.

"My, you never do change," she says once her laughter subsides. "Always so very pushy."

Claude feels uneasy again, thinking back to the beginning of their conversation.

"You speak as though you know me," he contemplates out loud, "and yet you also claim to not be a goddess. I keep my friends close and my enemies closer, and you better believe I remember every one of their faces. But yours is not a familiar one."

"You are correct, in a way," Sothis smirks. "Until recently, you had never seen my face before, though I am still not omnipotent."

Claude feels his irritation flare again but keeps his expression light. He knows this woman is dangerous, goddess or no.

"Speaking in riddles can't help but make a guy feel uneasy," he says lightly, watching Sothis continue to smirk. 

"I am aware, But you make it so very easy to tease you," Sothis quips before sighing, smirk finally falling.

"I have known you, Claude, through another's eyes. You and every person in this monastery, every student, guard, and faulty member," Sothis begins. "I am not a goddess, but I am not human. I am, as they say, a Fell Star, a creature not of this dimension. Your rules do not apply to me, and as such, neither does your time."

Claude lowers his hands from behind his head, and listens.

"I have lived in my vessel for more than this lifetime, for more than this timeline, and I have watched every one of you grow, and every one of you fall." Sothis' voice hardens, but her eyes grow weary. "And I have watched her pain, over and over, each and every time."

"Teach?"

The word slips from Claude's mouth without permission, and he promptly feels small. Sothis' gaze burns into his, and he knows. He knew, he didn't need to ask, but...

"Yes," Sothis confirms, "her."

Claude sucks in a breath, and leans back on the balls of his feet.

"She chose the Deer first, you know," Sothis says, and Claude is confused. "But when she reached the end, she wasn't happy. Well, she was, but not fully. She wanted to see if she could change things."

The pieces aren't connecting, not yet, but Claude feels them hovering in the air above him--the answers he so desperately seeks. 

"She chose the Lions next. She already loved them, but leading them made her love them more. Made her privy to facets of hearts otherwise hidden. She never forgot about you, though. Watching her try to balance two houses was a nightmare, and then..."

Claude feels something twist in his gut. 

_Your rules do not apply to me, and as such, neither does your time._

"She still wasn't happy," Sothis says in mild exasperation, finally uncrossing her arms to gesture in the air. "I told her, you can't save them all, but she was determined. So frustratingly insistent. Day by day, she wilted my resolve. I told her, this is the last time. It wasn't."

Claude stares, incredulous and uncomprehending. No, that is a lie. He comprehends, but it's just so...

"Her third try, of course, was the Eagles. She flitted between all three houses like a butterfly in a storm. She loved but still lost. I tried to tell her, there is no fate without losses. She begged me. She groveled. Never in my life had I ever witnessed something so pathetic..."

Sothis' voice breaks. Claude realizes, sometime during her bizarre tirade, the green-haired woman had begun crying.

"I could not deny her," Sothis snarls, her voice growing louder. "She followed Rhea, and then... then she resurrected me!"

Claude realizes, with mild alarm, that not only is Sothis crying, but she is also angry. _Very_ angry. He briefly wonders if his last moments of life will be listening to a pseudo-Goddess have a tantrum. 

Claude takes a cautious step backwards, and Sothis notices immediately. She blinks, surveys his face, and then takes a deep breath. She looks away in shame, hugging herself.

"I apologize, young one, for my loss of composure," Sothis murmurs, eyes still unable to meet his. "It is hard, sometimes. I experienced her heart, her emotions, as if they were my own. It is easy for me to let my guard down around you. That was inappropriate, and it will not happen again."

Now it is Claude's turn to blink. Once, twice. There is a strange flutter in his chest, and a buzz in his veins. Sothis... Teach...

What was that supposed to mean?

Claude doesn't have time to ponder though, for Sothis decides to look up then, to lock eyes with his own. His gaze is bewildered and hers is pure pain.

"Byleth died resurrecting me. As did Rhea."

The words are said quietly, almost a whisper, and yet they ring in Claude's ears and echo in his head. _Byleth died... Byleth died..._

Byleth died.

"I'm not sure what you saw in the Void," Claude starts, and he is numb and buzzing all at once, "but Teach is alive. Alive by your hand own hand--"

"No," growls Sothis. She does not raise her voice, but the words rush from her, harsh and fast. "She did not resurrect me in the Void. She did not resurrect me in this timeline. She did not resurrect me even within the last timeline. The clock turns of by my own volition now, not hers. I am the one unable to face loss."

Claude isn't sure how it's possible, but his stomach feels both heavy and hollow. Sothis has stopped speaking and it is quiet now, too quiet, and the silence is nearly suffocating. The world is suddenly too sharp, too detailed, and Claude cannot concentrate on any fixed point. Not on Sothis' agonized stare, not on the light from the windows reflected on the marble floor, not on the statues of saints silently watching their enigma confess.

"I am not bound by your time," Sothis begins speaking again, and Claude still cannot quite focus, cannot quite fixate on her or on anything else in the room. "I only had to be resurrected once to exist in this form again, to have a physical presence in this realm. But even with this body, even being able to now walk beside her, I cannot save her."

Claude balks. His thoughts are indiscernible. There is no counter-measures, no calculations, no schemes. There is just an ache, a sudden and unfathomably deep ache, and a question.

"Why are you telling me?" Claude asks.

Hearing his voice, his words, out loud causes the ache to pulse. The pain grounds him, and cuts through the maze in his mind. Yes, there was a reason why this is the only question his mind could conjure. His schemer's heart may have taken over these past few moments when nothing and everything felt real, but his schemer's mind hadn't been entirely silenced. Intrinsically, it churned the information, picking and prodding at it with a desperation masked by sensory overload. It found something, something impossible, something like hope...

Because if Sothis was telling him this, there had to be a reason. It meant, somehow, he could save Byleth. He could save his Teach. Right?

Right?

"You are correct," Sothis says, and he is shaken to realize he'd spoken aloud. Or had he? He still didn't know if she could read his mind.

"I can't, you're still speaking," Sothis remarks, voice dry. 

If this whole situation wasn't so unbelievable, it'd be damned funny.

They stare at each other in silence for a few minutes. It seems Claude's mind had finally regained control of his mouth. Sothis watched him as he processes everything, eyes still full of sorrow.

"I can save Teach," he reiterates, finally, and Sothis snorts.

"I am glad you have grasped the situation," she responds, tone still dry.

Claude can't help it. He begins to laugh. Sothis isn't amused, but she does not reprimand him. She simply watches him until his laughter subsides with a frown on her face.

"Are you done now?" she asks.

"Sorry, sorry," Claude chortles, bringing his breathing back to normal. "It's just... I'm not one to let my emotions get the better of me, and yet I've gone from very low to very high in a _very_ short period of time. I'm still wrapping my head around this, but I guess I'm only human, huh?"

Sothis does not crack a smile.

"I am glad to see you feel well enough to jest again," she grumbles, and Claude finds his easy smile.

"Well, I don't see what the problem is," he says, riding a strange, jittery high. "You tell me what I need to do to save Teach, and I'll do it."

Sothis sighs and sits on the floor. Out of all the things Claude was expecting, it wasn't this. He hovers for an uncomfortable moment before deciding to sit cross-legged across from her.

"It is not that easy," she says, hugging her knees.

"Of course it isn't," Claude agrees. "But there's gotta be a decent chance if you're telling me all this stuff, right?"

Sothis shoots him a perturbed look.

"It is not a decent chance," she quips back at him. "It is a small one. A very, very small one."

"But it's still a chance," Claude knows he sounds silly, holding on to this hope, but he has to try. "Right?"

"Right," Sothis begrudges.

The pair fall into silence once again.

"So," Claude starts, still emboldened by his emotional whiplash, "Time travel, huh?"

Sothis snorts again and Claude thinks if someone had told him a fortnight ago, that he would be sitting on the floor of the Audience Chamber with a Goddess, scheming to save his Professor...

Well, he doesn't know exactly what he would've done if someone had told him that, but he certainly wouldn't have believed them.

"More like..." Sothis makes a face. "Alternate realities. Roads travelled in this timeline are untraveled in others. There are similarities, but it is the differences, however small, that can bring about a change of fate."

"A change of fate, huh," Claude decides to lie down on the marble, and put his hands behind his head. "I never really liked the concept of fate."

"I know," Sothis says, and he hears her shift to lay down as well. "It's not as set in stone as stories claim. But there are still fixed points that cannot be changed."

"Oh?" Claude asks, eyes watching shadows on the roof. "Do you have an example?"

"The Blade Breaker's death."

"Ah," Claude sucks in a breath, and feels his playfulness wane. "You couldn't save him?"

" _She_ couldn't save him," Sothis whispers, voice laced with regret. "He was her first one, her first loss. Again and again she tried, and failed. I could not help her. I sometimes wonder if that was the trigger for all her other attempts. She couldn't let any of you go after that."

Claude is quiet for a moment. And then,

"Have I died?"

Sothis turns to look at him. He didn't hear her, but he can feel her gaze now on his cheek.

"Yes," she says quietly.

Claude hums, contemplating. 

"How'd Teach react?"

Sothis makes a noise of indignance, and Claude lets out a mirthless chuckle.

He pictures Teach, in his final moments. His heart twists in his chest picturing her eyes mirroring Sothis' sorrow. He feels it then, a tightness in his muscles, a restlessness. He realizes... he doesn't actually care what she'd say, or if she'd cry. He doesn't want to know.

Because he never, ever wants to see it. He doesn't want to cause her that pain.

He doesn't want to leave her.

Sothis is still watching him. He wonders again if she can read his mind. He knows he's in control of his mouth this time, but somehow, he still feels like she knows what's going through his head.

He wonders how long she has known him, truly. The thought of her answer, of how long and how much knows, raises the hair on his neck once more. He decides against asking, for now.

"How many times have you told me?" he asks instead, rolling on to his side and propping his head up with one hand. She lays a few feet away from him and rolls to mirror his position.

"This is the third time," she says. 

Her tone is not one of admittance. It is stated simple, true, and somewhat sad: it is a fact.

Claude hums again.

"Can you tell me how I reacted," he hedges, "before?"

Sothis flops back on to her back and sighs.

"The first time, you did not believe me. To be fair, I was not as frank, and I told you," Sothis pauses for a moment. "... much later, in your timeline."

"And the second time?" Claude asks.

"I was more direct," Sothis said, hands coming up to tug at her hair as she reminisced. "But at that point, I was still too late."

"Did I not believe you?" Claude asks, intrigued.

"Were you not listening?" Sothis turns her head to shoot him an annoyed glare. "It was too late."

Claude frowns, disliking the ambiguity, but not pressing it further.

"I find myself in need of apology once more," Sothis sighs, returning her gaze to the ceiling. "I did not think I'd fail a second time. I was wrong, and it is still a source of..." she trails off for a moment, frowning. "...frustration, for me."

Claude looks at her then, _really_ looks at her. A woman, barely older than he, who seemed both ancient and child-like at the same time. A woman who could cut through the sky with her bare hands and turn back the hands of time. A woman who could have an entire country at her feet, but instead all she wanted was...

"You... love her," Claude realizes out loud, no hint of mischief in his tone. "Don't you?"

Sothis' hands still in her hair. Her knuckles are white, and her eyes do not leave the ceiling.

"This is the second time you've asked me that," she says, her voice flat. "I lied the first time and perhaps that is why I failed."

"What did you tell me?" Claude asks, his voice gentle.

"I told you no."

It is the most backwards admission of love Claude has ever heard, but he believes it.

He believes her.

"Your distrust of me led to a distrust in Byleth," Sothis finds her voice again, barely a whisper. "You did not understand why I asked you to trust her. My pride caused you to doubt my sincerity--it caused you to doubt my motive," she turns to look at him again and there are tears in her eyes. " _Never_ doubt my motive."

Claude smiles, a rare, genuine smile, and reaches out to one of Sothis' white-knuckled hands.

"I don't doubt your motive, my friend," he says quietly. Sothis' eyes widen in surprise before she snatches back her hand and jumps to her feet.

"Good," she says, her back turned to him. Claude doesn't comment on her not-so-subtle swipes at her hidden face.

"You may leave now," she says, still facing away. "I have told you all you need for today."

Slowly, Claude rises to his feet. He looks at the mop of green hair facing him, mussed from the floor, and finds himself at a loss for words. He wants to... comfort her? Thank her? When did he go from feeling irritated and afraid to a sympathetic sense of comadre?

He hesitates a moment longer before deciding it best to heed Sothis' words and leave. As he reaches the closed doorway of the Audience Chamber, Sothis calls out his name.

He turns, hand on the knob.

"You should know Byleth had one request every reset," her back is still to him, but he can hear Sothis loud and clear. "Many of her memories remained in tact, though some I had to erase as I could not permit her such all-encompassing foreknowledge. The main memories retained were those of relationships she built in hopes to save more of her companions."

Claude thinks of Byleth's quick but strong bonds with the students of Garreg Mach, and feels an uneasy pull in his chest. Does that mean, his own connection to her...?

"Except you," Sothis, the non-mind-reading-mind-reader, has once again answered his thoughts. "Her only request was to forget you, each and every time. She said it felt like a betrayal. She wanted to earn your trust, each and every time anew."

_I experienced her heart, her emotions, as if they were my own. It is easy for me to let my guard down around you._

"She did not always succeed," Sothis finishes, and she still hasn't turned around, "but please, allow her to succeed this time."

The fluttering in Claude's chest that had briefly graced him before was back in earnest. The final piece of the puzzle cemented, and Claude wondered, fleetingly, if their roles were reversed if he could be as selfless.

"She already is," he responds softly, before slipping out the door.

Sothis scrubs at her face once more in the empty Audience Chamber before steeling herself. There is no more time for wallowing in the past or indulging in self-pity. There is only the here and now, and as she has heard before, the third time's the charm.


End file.
